Food made easy for busy moms.

New Year, New Resolutions January 1, 2012

I know, I have been absent for a while. Summer happened, work happened, life happened. It’s very hard to get back into the groove of things when you get out of the groove. So, being that it is New Year’s Day, my resolution shall be to try to post at least once a week. Key word in all of this is try.

Seeing as how I had foot surgery two weeks ago and can’t walk without crutches for six weeks, it has been rather difficult to feel inspired in the kitchen. Shouting out directions to the hubby has been rather challenging. My one trip to the grocery store was humiliating and rather stressful. Since I can’t keep my foot down for more than 15 minutes at a time, I resorted to the fun electric cart. I felt like a leper in the grocery store. Not only was the hubby totally embarrassed by me and getting rather grumpy, but people wouldn’t make eye contact with me as I would try to get around them in my very cool cart. Not the highlight of 2011 for me. Good thing we are on to 2012.

So, with me gimped out and my husband not really happy in the kitchen, especially when I am around critiquing his every move, I am trying to keep things as easy as possible. A very easy go to dinner at our house is burrito night. This is completely doable for me at this point, of course with some help from the hubby.

Many of us remember the nights when our mom would bust out the taco seasoning packet and get very excited. I liked those nights as much as everyone else, but as I got older I realized how much sodium is in those packets and that I could create a better product with what I have in my pantry. Feel free to add more, or even less of the following depending on your taste buds and heat tolerance. We tend to like things a bit spicy at our house. We use moose in our house, but you can easily substitute ground beef or ground turkey.

Sometimes I will add in red pepper flakes if I want some added heat. Smoke chipolte powder is another great addition. Really any of your favorite chili powder based mixes would work well.

Mix the spices into the mix, turn the heat down to medium-low and allow the flavors to mingle. I will usually add in about 1/8-1/4 cup of water, chicken or beef broth, beer, or tequila to the mix to give it some moisture. If you have little ones and are worried about cooking with alcohol, the alcohol will cook off in the process and give it some nice flavor.

Serve with flour tortillas or hard shell tacos. In our house we serve the burritos with saffron rice, refried beans, guacamole (recipe to come), salsa, fresh cilantro, and fresh lime.